All Museums Should Be Free of Charge - Essay Example

 All Museums Should Be Free of Charge A debate rose in the panel discussion of 2002 in Harvard University about the entrance fee charged in the museums. According to the director of Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philippe De Montello, people pay a huge amount of money for the rock concerts and other forms of entertainment. They should pay for the purpose of art also. However, Glenn Lowry, director of the Museum of Modern Art, stated that the museums should be free for the public visits. This brings to the question whether the entrance to the museums of the country should be made free. Museums are a source of knowledge for us and especially for persons who cannot find the money for buying books and other study materials. Free access to museum is essential to provide us with the opportunity to learn about our heritage more closely. Views Supporting the Issue Museums have an important role in preserving and bringing a country’s historical inheritance to the view of the new generations. Museums are repositories of knowledge and through them; we discover and find out important aspects of our civilization. Free access to museums would help a greater number of people to learn and discover additional things about their country and the world as a whole. The history of the country helps to increase their knowledge about their country and a sense of pride among them. At the same time, it helps in promoting greater comprehension and acceptance of foreign cultures. Museums are like libraries and schools, which offer knowledge. Knowledge should be available to all irrespective of the economic conditions. Therefore, following the trend of education for all museums should be made free to the public. Many people do not have access to the museums because of the high charges. People should have free access to the knowledge of art and history. The Indianapolis Museum of Art has made its admission free of charge. The Museum boasts of a huge collection of art and making the entry free has attracted a large number of visitors to it. (The Indianapolis Museum of Art). Therefore, free access to museum is essential to provide us with the opportunity to learn about our heritage more closely. Most of the museums use the city and the county tax collections for its maintenance. Therefore, making the entry fee nil will not be detrimental to their income. A number of museums in the United States have made entry for the public free of charge. The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore has eliminated entry charges. Since it has an internationally renowned collection of art, the removal of admission charges, would bring a greater number of people in contact with the culture of the world. (Smith; The Walters Art Museum). The Toledo Art Museum in Ohio follows a free admission policy laid down in its charter of 1901, the year of its establishment. (Museum Home). All these museums attracted a huge number of visitors after the entry was made free which has enabled the people the opportunity to learn about their heritage more closely. Additionally, there are museums, which are free for some specific hours during the day or for a whole day during the week like the Staten Island Museum. Some museums have pay-as-you-like policies like the Seattle Art Museum and the Brooklyn Museum. Certain museums like the Toledo Art Museum, the Kimbell Art Museum and the Amon Carter Museum in Texas do not levy any fee for entry but charge for special occasions like exhibitions. (Smith). This is done to encourage the children and the young to visit the museums during the free hours and to enable them to gather knowledge about the heritage of the country. Views Opposing the Issue and refutation Although, admission in museums should be made free of charges, yet some museums need to charge an entry fee. The reason stated for this is the fact that preserving these museums necessitates a lot of maintenance. This is obviously necessary because of the great extent of heritage held by these edifices. Museums require a lot of money to keep the historical objects intact and well-maintained. The state allots a specific portion of their budgetary expenses in funding the museums. However, the amount sometimes falls short of the actual expenses incurred. To, make up for the deficits, entry fees need to be charged from visitors. Since, it upholds the heritage of a country; citizens should have a responsibility in contributing towards its maintenance. The Art Institute of Chicago is an example of museums that charge an entry fee. The Museum of Modern Art charges an admission fee of twenty dollars, which was applied from 2004. It is claimed that the fee charged by the museum, although comparatively quite high, is not so in reality. This is justified by a large poster in the museum, which displays that cost of seeing one work of Monet, exhibited for the first time in a hall in Boston was 25 cents. This would equal to about 5 dollars per work in present currency equivalence. Hence, it is argued that the current museum charges are a bargain (Oster). However, this view does not hold true for every sections of the people who are not financially capable to shell out $20 for a visit to the museum. Therefore, the main motive of the museum to supply knowledge to all is not fulfilled. Therefore, free access to museum is essential to provide us with the opportunity to learn about our heritage more closely. In some cases, museums hold exhibitions, which require a lot of money. Therefore, they have to charge money for the exhibitions. The money paid by the city councils is not enough to hold exhibitions. Charging entry fee helps the museums to develop their operations and increases their ability to buy newer attractions which helps to attract the visitors. The money paid by the city councils is not enough to buy new goods. The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture deals in the area of tissue collection from the environment, which are used by the students. As the process is costly, the Museum charges a fee of $25 per tissue. (Tissue Policy). However, the charges are very high for the students to afford which deter the process of knowledge gathering. Therefore, it can be said that free access to museum is essential to provide the opportunity to learn about the heritage more closely. Conclusion Since museums impart knowledge about our historical and scientific inheritance and help us discover more about our heritage, everyone should have the right to access them without any impediments. Museums are a store house of our heritage and hence free access to them is necessary to understand our past and pride. Therefore, the target should be to meet the maintenance costs from the taxes, which would help us to access the museums free of charges. Although, museums lecture about their desire to attract larger and more democratic viewers, the fact is that they cannot even start identifying this audience until they lower the entry barrier. This could be achieved through reducing or removing the entry charges so as to bring a greater number of people in contact with our country’s heritage. References 1. Smith, Roberta, “Should Art Museums Always Be Free? There’s Room for Debate”, The New York Times, 2006, Available from: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/22/arts/design/22admi.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 (Accessed on Jan 25, 2010). 2. “Toledo Museum Of Art”, Museum Home, n.d., Available from: http://www.toledomuseum.org/about (Accessed on Jan 25, 2010). 3. “Welcome to the Walters Art Museum”, The Walters Art museum, n.d., Available from: http://thewalters.org/ (Accessed on Jan 25, 2010). 4. Oster, Sharon, “Charges Now-Here’s How”, Museum, 2007, Available from: http://www.aam-us.org/pubs/mn/chargenow.cfm (Accessed on Jan 25, 2010). 5. Indianapolis Museum of Art, n.d. Available from: http://www.imamuseum.org/ (Accessed on Jan 25, 2010) 6. Tissue Policy, Burke Museum of National History and Culture, n.d. Available from: http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/collections/genetic/tissue.php (Accessed on Jan 25, 2010) Read More